


Raft of Weird

by blythechild



Series: The Otter One [3]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anthropomorphic, F/M, Family, Fluff, Love, Otters, Parent-Child Relationship, Sibling Rivalry, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-30 00:43:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10865499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blythechild/pseuds/blythechild
Summary: Spencer's take on child rearing scares the heck out of Emily.This is a work of fanfiction and as such I do not claim ownership over the characters herein. It was created as a personal amusement. This story is suitable for all audiences.





	Raft of Weird

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: pointless fluff is utterly and completely pointless. And, OTTERS!

Emily swam through the bay huffing around a mouthful of fish in a way that made her feel older than she was comfortable with. Hunting down lunch had taken more out of her than it did in the past and her brain was chanting unhelpful things like _old otter… you’ve lost a step… still have puppy fat, don’t you?_

“ ‘Fanks, breen,” she grumbled around the fish, who was beyond caring due to being dead. Yeah, she dead-ed a fish. That had to count for something, right? Damn right it did. And she was bringing it back to feed her family. _She_ was – a female – because her mate was hit-and-miss in this area. And she had TWO pups to feed, not one, which was unusual and exhausting. Not to mention that some days she felt as if she’d suddenly collected _three_ children all at once because Spencer was equally energetic, if not more so, than their twins. No wonder why she felt old.

But even as she paddled through the bay, she noticed the blueness of the sky, the scattering of fluffy clouds, the warmth of the late summer sun in the water around her making the ripples sparkle and shine – and she thought, _Damn, it’s still good being an otter, even an older one._

And then all of that went to hell with a blood-curdling scream.

Before her, above the break wall that separated the bay from the harbor beyond, an otter pup sailed high into air. It curled and squeaked, golden streaks glinting in the light amongst its puffy fur, and then plummeted down again and out of view.

 _Benji!_ she screamed inside her head, recognizing his slightly long-ish curls instantly. To her horror, there was another scream and Benji tumbled in and out of view once more.

_Baby! No! What? NO! My baby…_

Then she was swimming faster than she’d ever managed before, hurtling forward almost as quickly as Spencer did, holding her breath until it burned in her chest. She reached the break wall and hurled herself at it, scrabbling at the rocks with her claws that were not made for climbing; it would take too long to swim around. She spat out the fish with an angry ‘pfew’ when she realized she was still carrying it, and then she clambered to the top of the wall and launched into the air with a tremendous push of her back paws while growling with a ferocity rarely seen in otterdom.

The scene that met her was a raft of shocked otters. Spencer was floating on his back with Benji balanced in his paws ready for another aerial excursion. Scout was nearby bobbing safely on the surface because of her puffy, golden coat. Benji looked confused. Scout looked delighted. Spencer just looked terrified at the screaming, clawed ball of warrior mate that was suddenly descending from above. Emily landed in the water with an impressive splash narrowly avoiding scraping Spencer with her claws as she passed him. When she surfaced, rageful and relieved and befuddled altogether, her family just blinked back at her like she was crazy, floating on the crests and troughs that her spectacular entrance had created.

“Mommy fly! Yay, Mommy!” Scout squealed with glee, clapping her tiny paws together.

“Daddy, why?” Benji looked at Spencer. “Mommy play?”

“I dunno, kiddo,” Spencer blinked at her. “Hello, love. Dramatic…”

“What the hell are you doing?!” she sputtered, trying to slow her heartrate and resisting the urge to murder the otterly love of her life.

“Playing…” he said with uncertainty, possibly feeling her murderous vibes.

“Scout want fly! Mommy, Scout fly now!” The pup was twirling away from the group on the ripples made by her mother and by her own excitement. Emily sighed and went to fetch her back.

“Me!” Benji crowed, making a fuzzy scowl at his sister. “Me, Daddy. Bounce.”

“Hold on, Benjamin. Ow, owowow… Benji, no. No claws.”

“You deserve it,” Emily muttered, hoisting Scout onto her belly and floating them both back to the group. She began licking her daughter’s wet fur without thinking, trying to make her dry and puffy again. “Torturing the babies…”

“Torture? Em, what?”

She sighed and it twitched her whiskers and ruffled Scout’s fur. Scout giggled, squirmed, and nearly plopped back into the water. “All I heard was screaming. And then Benji was hurling through the air… I didn’t know what was happening…”

“Oh love!” Spencer wiggled to meet her, snapping a paw around hers and anchoring them with their restless pups on their bellies. He nuzzled at her ear carefully, his face all furry wrinkles of ‘Oops’. “It was just a little fun. Benji was curious about seagulls and then I told him about flying and he wanted to know what that was and I said it was like swimming but in air, but they can’t swim yet because they’re too buoyant so I-”

“I’m starting to get the picture,” she interrupted. She sighed and tried to let it take all of her tension with it, looking skyward into the big, beautiful blue. _Raft of weirdos_ , she thought. “Honestly, Spence…”

“I’m sorry,” he murmured into her fur and then nipped her ear in a way designed to make her forgive him almost immediately. Damn him. “I had no idea it would look threatening from a distance. That must have been horrifying.”

“I leave you alone for twenty minutes…” Emily nipped him back and purred in a tone that was half frustration and half affection. “And you aggressively introduce the babies to the concept of gravity. You are wholly ridiculous.”

“Gravity! Oh, we didn’t even get to that! Nice catch, Em…” He turned to Benji who was busy trying to prevent his sister from joining him on Spencer’s chest. “Hey, squirts, wanna know why you always come back down when I throw you up?”

“Up, Daddy, up!” the twins chirped together and wriggled so aggressively that Scout slid free and splooshed back into the water next to Emily.

“Later,” Emily sighed, secretly delighted that they were probably raising two impossibly curious otters. She looked over at Scout who was twirling in the waves, already better at swimming than her brother, grinning with tiny fangs that reminded her so much of Spencer’s smile. “Lunch first.”

“Mommy,” Benji threw himself from Spencer’s chest to hers without any warning. He grinned just like his sister, even though he did everything he could to prove that he was different from her. “Hungry.”

“Of course you are, little bean.” Emily smoothed his kinked whiskers with her tongue and he purred. “You’ve been so busy flying.”

“Fly too, Mommy?” Scout nosed Emily’s side.

“Fish first, fly later,” she hummed back and then unceremoniously rolled Benji into the drink alongside Scout. He snuffled in shock, taking in a mouthful of water and sputtering it out with a cry. Emily ignored the display and instead nosed them toward the break wall and the lunch she’d abandoned on it. “C’mon, chop, chop. The fish isn’t getting any fresher.”

Spencer helped her shove the pups to the rocks. They were still too puffy to swim effectively and sometimes it was just easier to boop them in the right direction as they floated on the tide. When they made it to the wall, they balanced their pups’ round butts on their noses and lifted them until they could climb on their own. Then Emily gripped the stone with her claws and started to lift herself up. Spencer’s paw curled around hers, and when she looked back his gaze was unfathomably tender.

“Sorry. Again,” he growled huskily, and her ears perked forward, instinctually interested. “You’re amazing, you know. I’m a goof and you’re just amazing. When you came over that wall, you were completely… what’s the word you use? Badass. Our pups are so lucky you’re their Mom. They’ll be baby badasses.”

“ _Will_ be?” She arched a furry brow at him. “Have you met our babies? They get into so much trouble and fight so often – they’re already bad little asses.”

Then Spencer surged out of the water and pressed himself along the length of her back and sharply bit her neck ruff. Her body instantly curled against him, and that was all instinct too; his gaze had gone from tender to heated. 

“Every time I look at them… and when I see you all together…” he growled meaningfully. She shivered against him and had a dangerous flash of femaleness that made her submissive in a way that would’ve irked her if it was anyone other than him. She purred before she could stop herself and it reverberated back into him making him grunt in return.

A cry came from the rock above. “Scout, no!” It sounded petulant and about ten seconds away from becoming a tantrum.

“Uh-oh,” Spencer muttered, sagging against her.

“Better go break it up,” she said regretfully.

Spencer bounded up the break wall and disappeared quickly to mediate the dispute. Emily bobbed in the water below, trying to cool off all the extra heat her mate had suddenly added to the day. _Damn him again._ She turned her face to the sun as a light breeze began to dry her dark fur. No matter what, it was a beautiful day, and she luxuriated in it and the tickling sting of the bite she could still feel in her ruff. She was lucky to be her today.

“Don’t do that, Scout,” she heard Spencer warn from above. “That’s not what tails are for, love. Ah… hey… _Hey!_ Don’t make me come over there… Benji, don’t provoke your sister... Because she’s your _sister_ , that’s why…”

Emily grinned and rolled her eyes. Then she lifted herself up the wall and waded into the battlefield.

Later, after fish, and hissing-biting-screaming pup fights, and after a much-needed timeout for the combatants, the raft finished the day as they started it. From a distance, denizens of the bay would’ve only seen squealing pups hurtling through the air beyond the break wall, over and over. No one would’ve seen their parents punting them skyward with their back paws, laughing almost as much as their babies did. If anyone had, they would surely have said, _What a raft of weirdos._


End file.
